Trojan Horses: Activist Art and Power – Lucy R.Lippard

In her essay, Lippard tries to place activist art in relation to the art world and to political organizing. She divides her essay in 4 parts: arguments, power, sources, and examples.

She defines activist art depending on its function, since it does not follow a particular style and has no limits in its medium. “It is an art that reaches out as well as in”. It is not “oppositional” only, but “it provides alternative images, metaphors, and information formed with humor, irony, outrage, and compassion, in order to make heard and seen those voices and faces who are invisible and powerless”. It is primarily process-oriented. “It has to take into consideration not only the formal mechanisms within art itself, but also how it will reach its context and audience and why”. The process and journey behind each activist artwork is the most important part.

There is a difference between political artists and activists artists.

Political artists’ subjects and contexts reflect social issues, usually in the form of ironic criticism. They tend to be socially “concerned” and work within the context, whereas activist artists tend to be socially “involved” and work with the audience.

Critics criticize activist art by stating that “art can’t change anything, so if you care about politics you should be a politician instead of an artist”, or “It’s not art, it’s sociology”, or even “Social-change art is rendered useless when co-opted by exhibitions and sales within the mainstream art world”. But these remarks are naïve. Artists do not think that their art will change the world directly or instantly. Artists or anyone else, alone, cannot change the world, but they choose to be part of the changing world, by reflecting the trending social or political issues.

It is viewed as powerless, but in fact, it has its own power: It creates emotions. Art’s power is its ability to communicate what is seen to what is meant, and its control over the social and intellectual contexts in which it is distributed and interpreted. Again quoting Lippard, “An artist can function like a lazy gardener who cuts off the weeds as a temporary holding action. Or s/he can go under the surface to the causes.”

“Social change can happen when you tear things up by the roots, collage metaphors, or when you go back to the roots and distinguish the weeds from the blossoms and vegetables.”